The State Duma Committee on Education and Science recommended adopting in the first reading a bill that will enable children of compatriots living abroad to study free of charge at foreign schools of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
As explained by the first deputy head of the Ministry of Education Pavel Zenkovich, currently three categories of children study in foreign schools at the embassies of the Russian Federation. The first is the children of employees of embassies and permanent missions, the second is the children of representatives of Russian companies working abroad, and the third is the children of Russian compatriots.
“Now free training is provided only for the first category. At the same time, we have 86 foreign schools in 80 countries of the world, 45 of them are secondary, 12 are basic, 29 are primary. In total, 8150 children study, of which 3200 are children of foreign workers, the rest of the children study for a fee. The bill proposes to completely exempt all children from payment,”he said.
Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Education and Science Vyacheslav Nikonov emphasized that “the transition to completely free education in foreign schools complies with the Concept of state support and promotion of the Russian language abroad, and will also make it possible to equalize Russian compatriots living abroad with citizens of the Russian Federation in constitutional rights to getting free education.
